Auxiliary support for linotype composing-sticks.



GEORGE LUCK, OF JAMAICA, NEW YORK.

AUXILIARY $UZPPORT FOR LINGTYPZE OQMPGSING-STICKS.

Application filed March'Zi, 1914.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnone'n Look, 'a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Jamaica, in the county of Queens and State 0'? New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAuXiliary Supports for Linotype Gomposing-Sticks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an auxiliary sup port for a linotype composing stick, and the main object of the invention is to provide means for preventing linotype slugs from falling out or the composing stick when the stick is substantiallv full and the movable stop therein is substantially at the end of the stick and about ready to emerge therefrom.

In linotype work it is customary for the operator of the machine to continue striking the keys to set up matrices for the production of slugs until the composing stick of the machine is nearly full. As ordinarily constructed this composing stick has a main or body portion and a slidable stop adapted to travel from one end of the stick to the other and slide to the far end of thestick as the latter is filled with slugs. If the stop is moved too far it will fall out of the composing stick and with it more or less of the slugs; and the attention of the operator is divided between the keyboard and the composing stick, especially when the stick is nearly full, and unless he keeps his attention fixed upon the composing stick at such time the stop is likely to fall out andwith it some of the slugs. Thus, in using such a device the operators attention is necessarily distracted a considerable portion of the time from the work of composition and the output of the operator and the machine reduced because of it. In addition to this there is also a very considerable loss whenever the stop falls out of the composing stick and one or more of the slugs fall to the floor and are damaged, as the slugs so injured must be duplicated, which, of course, involves the duplication of the work of composition at the keyboard and the consequent operations of the remainder of the mechanism, all of which involve a serious loss of time. My present invention is particularly directed to the prevention of these untoward results and to the provision of means for preventing the falling out of the stop from the composing stick and for securely holding the slugs in place in the stick even if the.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented July 13, 1%15.

Serial lilo. 826,135.

operator is working at high speed with his attention centered largely upon the keyboard or other parts or" the machine. The present invention is intended to constitute also a means for giving the operator a warning, different from but analogous to that which is given by the bell of a typewriting machine near the end of a line being written, the warning in this case being however given by the sliding of the movable stop out of thecom'posing stick.

A further important feature of my present invention is the provision, in connection with the composing stick and its movable stop, of means for holding said stop and a considerable number of slugs securely in place in alinement, and in substantially the relation they are when in the composing stick, after they have passed beyond the end oi? said composing stick and are not supportedthereby, this result being obtained by the provision of suitable means, preterably under elastic pressure, such as that of a spring, for engaging said stop and clamping the stop and the adjacent slugs securely together. 6

Other features of the invention not hereinbefore referred to will be hereinafter described and claimed and are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of a composing stick filled with slugs and having my invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a plan of the composing stick and other parts, showing the composing stick empty; Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail of the attachment illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 for holding the slidable stop and slugs in place in the composing stick, the view being taken looking from the rear in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4: is an enlarged end elevation of the clamping bracket shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

C designates generally the usual composing stick of a linotype machine and S the usual movable stop slidable in such composing stick. The composing-stick as illus trated has a bottom wall, 2, for supporting the lower ends of a series of slugs, such as s, and side walls, such as 3 and 4:, of different heights at different points, as is usual, for confining the slugs crosswise of the stick. The stick also has the usual stop-wall, 5, at the receiving end thereof, the other end of the stick being open. The composing-stick as a whole is attached to the proper part of the frame-work of the machine in any suitable manner, as, for example, by clampscrews (not shown) in the well-known manner. The movable stop S slidable in suitable spring is illustrated at 8 working in an opening (not shown) in the member 6 for holding the stop S securely at any desired point in the length of the composing stick, but in such a manner that it may be readily shoved along to a new position. So long as the slugs s in the composing-stick do not reach substantially to the end of said stick, that is,.so long as they do not approximately fill the same, the stop S will constitute a proper and suflicient support for said slugsinelined as shown in Fig. 1. When, however, the stick is practically full the stop S would fall out of the open end of the stick unless held in place by suitable means. In the present case I have illus trated, means for preventing the falling of this stop and also for preventing the falling of any of the slugs and for securely holding both the stop and the slugs in substantially the same relation to one another as when the stop is within and supported by the composing stick.

The means employed for accomplishing the results just described may be any suit able for the purpose. As illustrated herein it embodies a device for engaging the stop and for exerting pressure upon the stop and through it upon the slugs to hold these parts in frictional engagement with one another. Here this means comprises a slide suitably mounted and having a cross-arm adapted to engage the outer side of the stop 7 and press it in against the first slug from which the pressure is transmitted through the others. This pressure will preferably be an elastic one exerted through any suitable means,.such for example, as a coiled spring. In the specific construction illustrated the device for engaging and holding the stop, etc., comprises a slide, 10, having a cross-arm, 11, near its end which projects into the path of the stop 7, as shown in Fig.

1. A strong spring is illustrated at 12 for normally drawing the slide in to the position shown inFig. 2. One end of' this spring is secured to a pin or projection, 13 on the slide 10 and the other end to a rela tively fixed point, such as the projection or pin, 14, extending from a fixture on which the slide 10 is movable. In the present case this fixture is a clamp bracket, 15, substantially U-shaped in cross-section and adapted to fit the outside of the U-shaped composing-stick, said bracket having a bottom wall and two side walls of different width with an overhanging stop portion, 16, for holding the bracket properly in place in a vertical direction.

l Vhile the fixture on which the slide 10 moves may be of any suitable construction and mounted in any suitable position, said fixture is preferably adjustable and mounted on the composing stick as just described in connection with the bracket 15. This bracket may be clamped in any suitable position lengthwise of the composing stick, as by means of a clampscrew 17 It will be obvious from the foregoing that when the bracket 15 is properly secured to the composing stick by said clamp-screw 17, as shown in Fig. 2, and the slugs substantially fill the composing stick, the obliquely disposed stop 7 will begin to put the spring 12 under tension and pressure will begin to be exerted upon the stop 7 by the cross-arm l1, and hence will begin to be exerted upon the slugs, before the slidable stop S emerges from the left-hand end of the composing stick, as shown in Fig. 1. Of course, the pressure applied by the cross-arm 11 will depend upon the pressure exerted upon that cross-arm by the elastic medium described, this pressure, in the specific construction illustrated, increasing as the spring is stretched and being sutlicient to hold together in proper relation a considerable number of the slugs s after said slugs have emerged from the composing stick and are wholly unsupported by the bottom wall of said stick.

By means of my present invention not only are the slugs positively held in place so that they cannot fall and be injured, and not only is the consequent loss of time and labor avoided, but there is in addition thereto the positive advantage that the operators attention need not be taken from the keyboard until the stop S is beyond the end of the composing stick, and there is the further positive advantage that the capacity of the composing-stick is very considerably increased, as it has been found in practice that with a composing-stick of the usual type having say a capacity of twelve inches of slugs, with my present improvement slugs representing an. additional capacity of say three inches can be turned out before it is necessary for the operator to take his attention from the work of composition.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the class specified, the combination with a composing stick and with a stop slidable therein, of means for engaging and holding said stop when it is pushed out of the end of the composing stick.

In a device of the class specified, the combination with a composing stick and with a stop slidable therein, of means for engaging and yieldingly holding said stop when it is pushed out of the end of the composing stick.

l a device of the class specified, the combination with a composing stick and with stop slidable therein, of means carried by said composing stick for engaging and holding said stop when it is pushed out of the end of the composing stick.

In a device of the class specified, the combination with a composing stick and with a stop slidable therein, of means carried by said composing stick for engaging and yieldingly holding said stop when it is pushed out of the end of the composing stick.

5. in a device of the class specified, the combination with a composing stick and with a stop slidable therein for locating a series of slugs, of means for engaging said stop and maintaining the alinement of the slugs after said stop and any number of slugs have been pushed (int of the end of the composing-stick.

6. In a device of the class specified, the combination with a composing-stick and with a stop slidable therein for locating a series of slugs, of means under elastic pressure for engaging said stop and maintaining the alinemont of the slugs after said stop and any number of slugs have been pushed out of the end of the composing stick.

7. In a device of the class specified, the combination with a composing stick and with a stop slidable therein for locating a s-ries of slugs, of spring-pressed means for engaging said stop and maintaining the alinement of the slugs after said stop and any number of slugs have been pushed out of the end of the composing stick.

8. In a device of the class specified, the combination with a composing stick and with a stop slidable therein for locating a series of slugs, of means in the path of movement of said stop and slugs and adapted to be put under elastic pressure thereby for maintaining the alinement of the slugs after said stop and any number of slugs have been pushed out of the end of the composing stick.

9. In a device of the class specified, the combination with a composing stick and with a stop slidable therein for locating a se-ies of slugs, of spring-pressed means in the path of movement of said stop and slugs and adapted to be put under tension. thereby for maintaining the alinement of the slugs after said stop and any number of slugs have been pushed out of the end of the composing stick.

10. In a device of the class specified, the combination with a composing stick and with a stop slidable therein for locating a series of slugs,of springpressed means carried by the composing stick and in the path of movement of said stop and slugs and adapted to be put under tension thereby for maintaining the alinement of the slugs after said stop and any number of slugs have been pushed out of the end of the composing stick.

11. In a device of the class specified, the combination with a composing stick and with a stop slidable therein for locating a series of slugs, of a slide carried by said composing stick and having a cross-arm in the path of movement of said stop, and means controlled by the advancing movement of said stop and slugs for putting said cross-arm under elastic pressure to maintain the alinement of the slugs after said stop and any number of slugs have been pushed out of the end of the composing stick.

12. In a device of the class specified, the combination with a composing stick and with a stop slidable therein for locating a series of slugs, of a bracket slidable on said composing stick, means for securing said bracket to the composing stick, a slide carried by said bracket andhaving a cross-arm in the path of movement of said stop, and means controlled by the advancing movement of said stop and slugs for putting said cross-arm under elastic pressure to maintain the alinement of the slugs after said stop and any number of slugs have been pushed out of the end of the composing stick.

13. In a device of the class specified, the combination with a composing stick and with astop slidable therein for locating a series of slugs, of a bracket slidable on said composing stick, means for securing said bracket to the composing stick, a slide carried by said bracket and hav' ing a cross-arm in the path 01" movement of said stop, and a spring connected to said slide and bracket for exerting on said stop and slugs through said cross-arm pressure opposing the advancing movement of the stop and slugs.

14. In a device of the class specified, the combination with a composing stick and with a stop slidable therein for locating a series of slugs, of means for exerting on said stop and slugs when the stick is substantially full elastic pressure opposing further advancing movement of the stop and slugs, said means also engaging and holding said stop when it is pushed out of the end of the composing stick.

15. In a device of the class specified, the combination with a composing stick and with a stop slidable therein for locating a series of slugs, of means for opposing to the further advance of the stop and slugs when the composing stick is full an elastic pres- York and State of New York this 12th day sure for sustaining the pushed-out stop and of March A. D. 1914'.

slugs that increases substantially in propor- GEORGE LUCK. tion to the advancing movement of said stop Witnesses:

5 and slugs. C. S. CHAMPION,

Signed at New York in the county of New B. EISENSTADT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressin g the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

